> >> hello there. welcome back to "france 24." civilians killed in air strikes in syria that obstruct hospitals and a school. the united states has condemned the bombing, locals blaming them on russia. a final claim of innocence olmert,the jail ehud the first former israeli prime minister to serve prison time. and making their case for a new case in europe in britain. the british prime minister meeting francois hollande in

paris ahead of a key eu summit. first, russia is being blamed for airstrikes that have hit at least three hospitals and a school in a northern syria. at least 50 people have died in the strikes. witnesses saying that the bombings came as russian warplanes backed up syrian troops. government forces are intensifying their push towards aleppo. the strikes have drawn condemnation from the united states. scrambledrescuers frantically at rubble on monday. they are survivors of the wreckage of what was once a hospital with 30 beds.

french charity doctors without borders had been supporting the facility with supplies and finance. it seems at least five centers around syria were hit the beginning of the year. the organization denounced the latest deadly strike in no uncertain terms, saying the blame lay only in one place. >> clearly the syria-led coalition, either the government it is russian plane clearly an attack against the medical mission. to be a doctor or nurse in the area controlled by the opposition is equal to be a criminal. >> russia has been blamed for airstrikes elsewhere, too. according to the syrian observatory, several people died and dozens were wounded when a children's hospital in the northern town was also hit by what activists that was a missile. the air raid hit a school,

killing several more people and leaving others in need of medical attention the syrian government forces have been on the offensive over the last week in the aleppo province, supported with russian air power. the latest instruction comes days after all 5 in the conflict had agreed on a peace summit in munich with a cease-fire going into effect in a week and humanitarian aid for those trapped in the flows. --herine: the united nations has arrived on a surprise visit to damascus. he will hold talks with the syrian foreign minister tomorrow. there of him arriving in damascus. ongoing fighting between turkey and the kurds is adding tensions and court vacating hopes of a cease-fire -- complicated hopes

of a cease-fire in syria. today turkey's prime minister has out not to let syrian town fall into british hands. has beennow the ypg pushed to the area around as they will suffer the most severe retaliation. we will not let it fall into the hands of the kurds. catherine: more with our correspondent jasper mortimer in angara. we heard from the turkish prime minister of not letting it fall into kurdish hands. fighting the kurds is now openly the number one irony for turkey -- number one priority for turkey inside syria? jasper: yes, i think that is a perceptive observation. certainly in the past three days turkey has exhibited far more

military aggression against the syrian kurds. then i can ever remember it doing as just the islamic state group in syria. for he has never held islamic state positions in syria for three days in a row. will not allow the islamic state group to take such and such a town. aspects of turkey's policy don't make sense. for instance, turkey demands that the syrian kurds withdraw from the airbase just south of the town. today the turkish prime minister said that if the syrian cords did not withdraw from the airbase, the turkish agility would render the airbase unusable. the syrian kurdish political leader has said, listen, if we base,rds didn't take that the syrian government forces

would have captured it. that is what turkey wants. it is a fair point. the syrian kurds government forces are advancing towards that base and if they grab it they will probably turn it over to the russian air force and then turkey would have russian warplanes taking off stationed 15 kilometers, 10 miles, south of the southern border. does turkey really want that? catherine: how is turkey's increasing involvement playing out inside turkey itself? jasper: not well at all. today the largest opposition party called on the government to brief parliament about the bombardment in syria. a spokesman for the party said we don't want turkey to get involved in the syrian civil war. the republican people's party says that if it were in government, turkey would be taking a neutral stance on the

syrian war and this would recognize bashar al-assad as being a legitimate. party-biggest opposition in parliament, the pro kurdish hdp party is totally opposed to what the government is doing in syria there is a third constituency and that is the turkish people themselves. there has been a lot of talk of the government level about turkish ground troops going into syria to drive out the islamic state and set up a safe haven for the refugees. the turkish people are dead opposed to that. the turkish people do not want turkish soldiers getting killed in the syrian squad. catherine: thank you for bringing us those insights, just for more about reporting from ankara. ehud olmert has made a last-ditch claim of innocence as he starts serving a 19-month prison sentence today.

his conviction in march 2014 four bribery and obstruction of justice forced him to resign earlier. this is the first time any israeli prime minister has been sent to jail. reporter: the nation's began a 19-month jail sentence for corruption on monday. in a video released hours earlier, ehud olmert warily insisted on his innocence. during my extended activity i also made mistakes that in my view were not of a criminal nature. for some of them i am paying today a high price, maybe too high. with a heavy heart i accepted the sentence. no one is above the law. reporter: court convicted olmert nearly two years ago. he had been accused of accepting bribes over real estate wild mayor of jerusalem before he became prime minister in 2006.

the scandal forced his resignation just three years later. while the initial sentence of six years was later reduced to 18 months, it was extended by a month this year for objection of justice. given his. popularity, israelis were left with mixed emotions. >> it is a sad day for israeli democracy but it shows that the justice system works and is efficient. day, notnot a pleasant for him, not for us. he went to jail for small change. the sentence makes olmert the first former prime minister to go to jail in israel but other senior officials of healthy long arm of the law, too. a former president is serving a seven-year term for rape. catherine: the british prime

ministers in paris today. david cameron meeting the french president ahead of the european union summit at the end of this week. the eu council president is also calling on francois hollande and eu leaders to accept the uk's the membership terms. that the u.k. breaking up is a real risk that the eu breaking up as a realist. therter: another stop on european tour. the president of the eu met with francois hollande in paris on monday hoping to convince the french president to accept a deal with the u.k. and prevent a potential break. he considered a graph proposal earlier this month and the last 30 days left to get the most reluctant countries on board. certain member states have begun to support the reforms with germany the latest country to show its backing. >> the concerns are not really

british concerns, not at all. it is quite the opposite. if we can succeed in integrating the issues into european mold, i think it would benefit europe as a whole. france come for instance, refuses to modify european trees or revisit the principles upon which the european union was founded. centralhe u.k.'s demands is to curb welfare and other benefits for you migrants. british prime minister david hollandewho meets with on monday, hopes to bring everyone to the four by the end of the week. n: this by working together we can achieve these changes, i will unequivocally stays in that britain the reform european union on these new terms. reporter: new terms that even if agreed upon by all 20 eu members would only be the first step. the fate of the u.k. would be decided by a national referendum, which david cameron hopes to hold as early as june. catherine: political battles of

a different sort. seven candidates are now in the race for the opposition in u.s. presidential election. the current favorites and how francois hollande's socialists are reacting. reporter: he is the latest want to enter the race. "i will be candidate in this primary because after 18 months of silence, years and years of being involved in all it takes, i've written a book." and they have already looks to explain why they are the best suited to be the party candidates in 2017. several men stand in the way the unp, amongs of the them to former prime minister's. another strong contender is former president nicholas sarkozy. he staged a political comeback to take the reins of the party

and is not officially announced he will run in the primary contest. taught everyone has welcome his return. -- not everyone has welcome his return. on sunday, most left of the center-right convention when sarkozy delivered his speech. sitearkozy: journals the is hard to unite. -- it is hard to unite but it is indefensible. reporter: former president sarkozy has been criticized for a gap increase seen as too right-wing by some, including one who is present for an alliance for the centrists. meanwhile, the ruling socialist seem amused by the division undermining the opponents. >> now there are seven candidates. soon there will be 10, maybe even 11. it is a football team, no longer a primary contest. socialists haven't decided whether to organize a primary contest despite calls from the more left parts of the

party. 'sesident francois hollande allies said that as the incumbent leader, he should not be subjected to a primary election. catherine: france is promising to pressure the european union from all financial help for theers over protests in western french region today amidst plummeting prices for milk and other agriculture products. some farmers are setting fire to hay bale barricades to demonstrations -- the demonstrations are timed to coincide with a meeting of european agricultural ministers. he has asked for a temporary hike in the intervention price for milk and new support for struggling producers. let's look closer with an expert in all of this. the president of agribusiness consultancy, thanks for being with us. and here in france from of the

situation with farmers is seen as being a crisis. thousands of people working the land with saying they simply cannot make a living out of it. ?ow did things get to be so bad eric: the first russian, things for many, many years. produce the good to market. him going to the commission and the commission accepts the rules so i don't know the way of the future. catherine: you know more than most people about the european commission. you used to work there. how likely do you think brussels is to accept what france is asking for, which is, of course, going to cost europe more money and helping this one country which is very strong in its agricultural sector other parts

of the european union might say that it's not fair, you're just or snugly helping friends. eric: yes, of course. it is a problem in europe. --e positions of åland hollande decided in the world market. catherine: well, a long-term come french farmers say they are continually being undercut by cheaper producers. elsewhere in europe, just across .he border in germany even this seems like a hard problem to resolve. france is committed to the european union. does anyone putting forward long-term solutions? eric: we need real solutions for the farmers and the share is not

equal in europe. france, the farmers i the highest cost of produce and we have not competitive in france. models forrefund the architecture. catherine: thank you for your insights. eric: thank you. catherine: when across the united states, the recent death of 79-year-old supreme court justice antonin scalia has left a particularly contentious vacancy at the country's highest court. the battle to name a successor is looming large over this year's presidential election. reporter: as flags fly at half mast in remembrance of supreme court justice antonin scalia, republicans have already come out swinging, vowing to block

any successor nominated by president barack obama. president obama is not going to get the benefit of the doubt from me unless he can find a consensus choice to replace justice scalia. reporter: that's battle lines are being drawn in congress, the finest gold over to the race for the white house come with republican candidates calling for a delay. cruz:r there is a long tradition that you don't do this in an election year. reporter: democrats say they are outraged by the republican stance. clinton: it is outrageous that republicans in the senate and on the campaign trail have already pledged to block any replacement that president obama nominates. reporter: the constitution is clear. the u.s. president nominates supreme court justices and the senate confirms the candidate. republicans want and delay, hoping they will take back the white house in november and have

a president who will be more willing to appoint a conservative justice. as it stands, the remaining 8 justices are evenly split between conservatives and liberals and republicans don't want to lose their long-term conservative advantage in shaping policy. analysts say that if i have repercussions beyond the presidential election, impacting several key senate races. going back to consider a nominee opens republicans up to charges of obstruction, an argument the democrats are sure to use as they try to win back seats in swing state contest. catherine: the pope is already used to juggling spanish, latin, italian, and other languages in his day to day work. today he added three mexicans ones to his range as he celebrated indigenous culture.

his trip to mexico is partly aimed at boosting faith in the least catholic state. pope francis issued sweeping apology for the catholic church's colonial era crimes against indigenous people. there is anticipation in paris ahead of a concert by the eagles of death metal, the rock band that was playing at the bataclan ahead of the paris attacks in november. gig will bes therir dedicated to them. they have invited survivors as the guest of honor. a 27-year-old is among those who has accepted the offer. >> i have been invited to this concert. i've have got a new addition and i will go with the others. it is pretty powerful because i'm proud to go there. first of all, it would be my first time ever. happy that it will be

this particular concert with these people, this group, after these events. there is no where else i would rather be on that night. 20 past 9:00 in the evening here in paris. business headlines with will tell the brand. we have seen hundreds of angry steelworkers on the streets. tell us why. reporter: what we have is a situation where basically their livelihood is threatened. this all happened because of the chinese rivals. european firms said that as ,hina's economy has slowed down steel manufacturers have had to find a place to offload their products. it has led to plunging prices, a practice known as dumping. reporter: employees and employers of the european steel industry marching side-by-side, united in their struggle against the dumping practices of the chinese competitors. thanks to heavy subsidies, still

production has boomed, leading to oversupply in europe and a drop in prices. consumption of one of the 50 million tons a year, subsidized deal. chinese steel imports have soared projected figure of 7 million tons for last year. this has caused the price of steel to fall from 600 euros per child last summer to 350 currently. overproduction isn't the only issue. members of the european steel community believe that deferring regulations have played their part in making the game in china's favor. we have to play for co2 certificates, which is not the case for china. in china the amount of co2 admitted -- emitted is higher than in europe. the protests were held

tostop china being granted the state of the modern economy with the wto could they claim this would grant chinese steel unfettered access to european markets and push european steel closer to the brink. >> studies suggest 2.5 million jobs will be at risk when this happens. reporter: european steel industry has received the support of many european officials such as the french economy minister. the u.k. government, on the other hand, is opposed to measures combating chinese dumping's and the goal of nurturing the trade relation between the countries. to brussels now. more stimulus could be on the way from the european central bank. mario draghi will not hesitate to ask to do what is necessary to lift inflation they currently stands at 0.4% in the euro zone full off the 2% target area since the start of the year,

bankshares in europe have lost a quarter of their value. they are not overly exposed to falling commodity prices, which have battered emerging markets. in short, mario draghi said the banks are in a better place than they were in the banking crisis a few years ago. the situation in the banking sector is different from what it was in 2012. importantly, euro arab banks have strengthened their capital positions over the past few years, notably as a consequence of the comprehensive assessment conducted in 2014. william: european markets ended higher after draghi's remarks. up 3%, but banking stocks on the rebound, as are some natural resource partners there. we should say no u.s. markets closed for public holidays.

the first train to connect china and iran arrived in tehran on monday. official said it marks the revival of the ancient silk road. officials say that they haven't even have an even grander vision of the future. this railroad will not only be used to deliver goods to .ehran we hope that in the near future we can create a railroad that goes from shanghai to europe passing through iran. william: staying with the automotive theme but a bit flashier, perhaps the closest james bond came to the perfect marriage was his aston martin. now you can get your hands on one of your own. an auction of james bond crops from the movie "spectre"

including the aston martin is expected to sell for 1.2 million euros. only 10 were made and all of them especially for this movie. has hadcutives say 007 a long history with aston martin. >> the car for bond is part of his working equipment and it is a very -- it is always traditionally been aston martins since "goldfinger" ended his misys -- it epitomizes his automotive equal. it is special for those reasons. william: beats taking the subway. catherine: definitely. that is actually my dream car. we will find our pennies later. we are going to take a short break and we will see you before the hour.

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02/15/16 02/15/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! rememberis a time to justice scalia plus legacy. i plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate as successor in due time. there will be plenty of time for me to do so and for the senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote.